


Insert Random Goat or Skeleton Pun Here (Soriel Week 2017)

by sourcrayon



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Fluff, F/M, Soriel, Soriel Week 2017, lots of puns, some foul language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 09:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11666544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sourcrayon/pseuds/sourcrayon
Summary: Hey y'all. Hope you enjoyed this little thing, and just know that my updates on this will be very spread out, because I happened to be extremely busy this week -_- But I should be getting them out as soon as I can though.





	1. Day 1: Trust

A bright ball of sun was just below the horizon and the sky was warming into a deep orange color. Monsters of the underground were making their journey away from the mountain that they had spent what seemed as eternities under. An era of permanent respite had begun, it had seemed, but it was only the beginning.

Sans never thought that the day would come when they would actually reach the surface; he had given up on any hope of leaving the underground altogether. Now that the day had arrived, he had no idea what to do next. He glanced next to him and found an awed Toriel staring at the amazing view; he was still utterly blown away that he had met the lady behind the door. When they were still separated, Sans had never visualized what she might have physically looked like; just laughing with one another seemed like enough to go off of without having to know if he would ever meet this mystery joker woman. Although he was never to judge other’s appearances, Toriel was definitely not unattractive to him, and her great height did not bother him in the least, as he was shorter than most people. On the other hand, Sans was worried that he had not met her expectations. He truly wanted to get to know her better now that they had the time; he was eager to learn more about her infatuation with education, snails, and pies, her jokes of course, and herself in general. Even though he had known this lady for a long time, now it felt as if they were strangers. Sans had to get things back to how they were before; back to friends who weren’t afraid to share the worst puns, not going back to underground, obviously.

This opportunity did not last long, though, as Toriel, Frisk with her, moved to the city during the first few days of arrival on the surface, in order for her to find jobs to earn a nice amount of money so she could open up her own school as soon as possible. Everyone was sad to see Frisk go, especially Papyrus, but began video chatting with them every day to keep in contact, even though it was only a two hour drive to where their motel was located (they lived in a motel room for the moment, until Toriel would make enough money to buy an apartment). Sans did not really understand Toriel’s decision, but it was not up to him.

During the first week that they had been living in the city, Sans sent a few texts:

* how’s the city  
* you goating to any of the sights?

Toriel never responded. He jokingly considered that the pun might have reached that level of corn, but knew that the corniest jokes were her cup of tea. Another week passed.

* papyrus wanted to let you know that he misses you  
* especially your humerus jokes

Another week went by, and nothing. Toriel had not even appeared in Frisk’s video chats at all since they had moved.

* u ok?  
* make sure your not working yourself down to the bone

Texting seemed useless without a response, so Sans stopped messaging her. Things resumed as they always had, except with a little, inevitable change. Papyrus and him (mostly Papyrus) finished constructing their new house, which pretty much a replica to their one in the underground. Little apartments had been built not long before, and Undyne and Alphys each occupied one separately, though Sans made a bet with Papyrus that it will take less than half a year for them to decide to move in with one another. Undyne and Alphy’s relationship seemed to be going extremely well, as far as Sans could tell. Every time they hung out as a group, they could barely keep their hands away from each other. It partially grossed him out, but he was glad to see his old friend, Alphys, genuinely smile again. It had been quite some time since she was this energetic and happy. Asgore did not live far away; in a cozy cottage just at the foot of Mount Ebott. He left every so often to meet with the human governments to discuss politics, not of which Sans particularly cared about, but Asgore remained in their established city of “MonsterTown” generally. Undyne and Papyrus visited often to assist in any way they could, which mostly consisted of only watering plants, so most of the time, they all enjoyed playing card games while drinking tea.

It was a crisp autumn evening when Sans had just woken up from his nap at his relocated hotdog stand job, and saw his phone light up to signify a new message. To his bewilderment, it was from none other than his old friend, Toriel, whom he had not texted in a couple weeks, though it seemed like much more.

* Hello, Sans. Please forgive me for my long absence. Work was quite exhausting, and I did not receive much time for any leisurely activities.  
* Please call me as soon as you can.  
* Sincerely, Toriel

Sans’s permanent smile grew a bit brighter, seeing Toriel’s unique way of texting for the first time in a while, but it faltered realizing her tone. What could she say to him? She had left, and that was that. Maybe she had found a great job that would give her a lot of money, so she could be deciding to live in the city for good. It was not positive thinking, but Sans could not predict any type of good news coming from her.

He was so lost in thought that he drowned out a frustrated customer’s comments and groans. Sans blinked and shoved his phone in his pocket, his skull flushing with embarrassment. “Uh, what’ll you have?” He forgot that he worked at a hotdog stand.

Sans returned home at the late stages of dark twilight, having made a decent amount of profit for his evening’s work. Papyrus was already in his pajamas and in his red race car bed, waiting for his brother to come read him a bedtime story. They had been sticking to this schedule for as long as they could remember. Sans hurriedly stumbled into Papyrus’s vibrant room and pulled out a copy of Goodnight Moon that a human child had given Papyrus when a curious group of tourists had wandered around the developing MonsterTown. Sans sat on a stool next to the car bed and hastily read the story.

After Sans closed the book, Papyrus pondered to himself for a bit, then said, “WHAT IS BOTHERING YOU, SANS?” The smaller skeleton was surprised by how much Papyrus could read his emotions. “I COULD TELL BECAUSE SOMEONE OF YOUR LAZINESS WOULD NOT READ THAT FAST.”

“Ah, you caught me,” Sans nervously muttered. He wondered if he should tell him or not, but decided that it was not worth the lie. “Okay… not long ago, today actually, Toriel texted me.”

Papyrus's eye sockets bulged. “TORIEL? I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM HER EVER SINCE THEY MOVED! IS SHE ALRIGHT?”

“That’s just the thing―I don’t really know. She just told that she was pretty stressed out, and she told me to call her, but I was at work.”

Papyrus groaned. “SANS, WHEN HAVE YOU EVER BEEN PENALIZED FOR GETTING DISTRACTED AT YOUR JOBS?”

Sans stood to put the book back into its shelf. “Fair point, but I wanna pay attention to what she has to say. It could be important.”

“THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CALL HER RIGHT NOW!”

“Okay, okay, Mr. Bossypants,” Sans chuckled, giving Papyrus a hug, as he did every night. “G’night, bro.”

Sans walked out, and as he was about to close the door for leave, Papyrus shouted, “SWEET DREAMS! AND TELL HER AND FRISK THAT I SAY HELLO!”

The sky was pitch black now, so Sans turned on the lamps in the living room. He sat on the couch for a few minutes, staring at Toriel’s number. At some point, he took off his large jacket when he felt that it got too heavy. His bony finger was just about to press “call” when he received an incoming call… from Toriel. He picked up, releasing a huge sigh.

“Hello?” Toriel sang, her sweet voice like candy, of which Sans had longed for for some time. 

He was thrown off by the sound of her beautiful voice, and blurt out, “I had to get glasses ‘cause I lost contact with you.”

The other side of the call was silent for a moment, then she let loose of boisterous laughter. Sans swooned backwards, thinking, God, she’s the most adorable woman. Then her cackles stopped short. “Oops. I hope I did not wake up Frisk,” Toriel whispered.

Sans snorted and laid on his back on the couch, more comfortable now. “So how’ve you been, T?”

“Erm… Okay, I suppose. Well, actually, not that great. I… got let go from my jobs.”

Sans held the phone closer to where his ears would be. “Oh god… I’m so sorry.”

“It is not your fault. Perhaps I should not have so foolishly moved to the city when I barely had any money for myself.” Her voice grew scratchy.

“What do you mean?”

Toriel paused. “I have run out of money,” she murmured, sounding as if she was about to tear up. Sans did not know how to respond to that, but she continued, “and this is what I wanted to ask of you, and I truly am ashamed for asking this.”

“You can ask me anything, Tori,” he assured, faint hesitancy in his voice.

Sans could vaguely hear her sigh heavily. “May I―may Frisk and I… stay with you until we find another place to stay?”

That was all? Sans thought. “Of course you guys can. We love having company,” he admitted honestly. 

Toriel paused again, and there was that dead silence. “Are you sure? Dear lord, I sound quite stingy. I just want to make sure that you are alright with it. It is hard enough asking this favor of you that I could never repay. How about I clean your home and do any chores that you may have―?”

“Don’t worry, it’s on the house,” she did not laugh at that one, which was acceptable, “uh… but really, you’re totally welcome here. You don’t have to feel bad. Pap and I would love to have you both. Honest.”

She chuckled under her breath. “You are too good of a friend.”

He beamed. “Aw, how very bonified.”

“Tsk, tsk, more like nonSANSical.”

“Hey, c’mon, throw me a bone here.”

They burst into laughter, then hushed, remembering that there were others sleeping in their separate homes. How they had missed laughing with one another like this. It almost resembled how their interactions were back when they could not see each other face to face. Now, they anticipated being in each other’s presence, and it would not be long until that would occur. 

They scheduled moving day for a week after their call, and Toriel and Frisk would bring all of their stuff in probably one or two trips since they did not have a whole lot of baggage from the underground. Sans had no clue what he was signing up for, but he was literally having the chance of a lifetime; living in the same home as someone who enjoyed and shared his love of puns and other bad jokes. As friends, of course. He ensured that Papyrus was alright with the new situation, and he seemed as excited, maybe even more so, about Frisk and Toriel moving in than he was. The kid did not worry him as much as he had expected; from the information that he had gathered, Frisk was a good child, but that could always change, was what he reminded himself.

Moving day came, and it went by just as how they had planned it. Except, Sans seemed to get more jubilant than the first time that he met Toriel face to face, which was hard to tell with someone as stale as him. Undyne and Alphys had joined to help putting stuff in boxes away, and Frisk had asked to go hang out with Asgore while the other adults were packing away boxes and containers. Toriel reluctantly agreed, with a heavy heart, realizing that Frisk would most likely get bored packing. She refused to make any mobile contact with him, though, so the child had to text Asgore through Papyrus' phone. 

About 20 minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Papyrus answered it with glee. “GOOD AFTERNOON, KING ASGORE! IT IS SO NICE TO SEE YOU.”

He stood awkwardly in the doorway, smiling warmly. “You too, Papyrus. How is moving day going?”

“GREAT! WE ARE JUST UNPACKING―”

“Hey, Asgore!” Undyne exclaimed from behind Papyrus, spooking him.

“Why, hello, Undyne! I did not know that you came, too!” Asgore was slightly disappointed to have not received an invitation, but then again, it was Toriel that was to be moving.

Toriel, stone-faced, walked with Frisk to the front door, then kneeled to meet Frisk’s height. “Be careful, my child. I love you.” They shared a sincere hug, then Toriel stood to her full height. 

Asgore stopped talking to the others abruptly and exclaimed, “Uh, how are you, Tori?”

She rolled her eyes. “Toriel.”

“Uh, yes. Toriel,” he tried to fix.

She shook her head and returned back to where Sans and Alphys were taking out Toriel’s books from a box. Papyrus went into his room to fetch something, and Undyne shared a few more words with Asgore, then he left with Frisk, holding his much larger paw. 

Undyne did not sit down, and was tapping her boot. “I don’t get why you gotta act so rude to him, Toriel.”

Toriel set down a snail book that she was holding. “You do know that he has killed children. Innocent children, right?”

Sans and Alphys shared an uncomfortable glance that they both recognized. They did not need to say anything for the glance to be understandable.

Undyne crossed her arms, pestered now. “That was so long ago, though. He’s changed. You could at least be a little nicer to him.”

Toriel scoffed. “Nicer to him? He does not deserve an ounce of my kindness.”

Undyne scowled, and barged out of the house, without another word. Toriel and her did not get along that often. Alphys looked at both Sans and Toriel awkwardly, then stood. “U-Uh… I’m r-really sorry… she can sometimes get like this. D-don’t blame her, she’s just really protective of Asgore. He’s like her dad,” Toriel did not respond, so Alphys said, “I-I should go.” So she did.

The door shut behind Alphys, and Sans looked up at Toriel to read any expression, and could only find melancholy. Witnessing as to how she would not allow Asgore call her “Tori”, it made him wonder as to the reason why Sans could address her as that. 

“Hey, Tori,” he piped up, “why can I call you ‘Tori’?”

She glanced at him and smiled, taking out a recipe book from the box. “What do you mean by that?”

Sans shrugged, putting a book into the bookshelf. “Just judging by what I just heard, but you clearly didn’t like how Asgore called you ‘Tori’.”

Toriel relaxed a bit. “He used to call me that when we were close, but now we are obviously anything but that, fortunately.” She stared down glumly at a book cover.

The way that she was making Asgore sound was like he was a real jerk, which was not true. Sans had guarded the throne room for a while, after all, so he had gotten to know the king… fairly. He did know that Asgore was generous, letting him sleep on the job most of the time. He was thinking about this until he caught on to that other thing she was saying―Asgore called her ‘Tori’ when they were close? As in married? He was thinking like a teenager, he realized.

Sans smirked, leaning his body slightly toward Toriel. “So r’we close then?”

“Well,” she muttered, shrugging sarcastically.

The skeleton snickered. “Wow, that hurts.”

Toriel raised her brows playfully. “You did not let me finish, you bonehead. I was going to say that I am moving into your home, so I would think that I, at least, trust you.”

Sans could not suppress the biggest dopey grin. “That is so sweet of you to say,” he exclaimed in an overdramatic tone, “you’re making me blush.”

They chuckled and Papyrus left his room carrying a bag of candies, yelling confidently, “I FOUND IT!” Seconds later, he asked, “WAIT, WHERE IS ALPHYS AND UNDYNE?”

“Uh, they said sorry, but they have to go feed the dog,” Sans spewed out automatically.

“THEY DO NOT HAVE A DOG..?”

Sans took out another hard cover book. “Then they must be feeding random dogs off the street, I guess.”

Papyrus was suspicious. “OKAY…? THAT MAKES NO SENSE, BUT I WILL MOVE ON. I JUST WANTED TO ASK IF ANY OF YOU WANTED TO TRY ONE OF MY JOLLY RANCHER CANDIES.”

Sans and Toriel exchanged a knowing look, and she instantly raised and extended her hand out to Papyrus. “I will take one!”

“No, no, gimme one first, bro,” he chortled, playfully shoving his hand in front of Toriel’s.

Papyrus groaned and dropped two jolly ranchers into the pile of hands. The two jokesters shoved one into their mouths and shouted at the same time over one another, “This sucks!”

They both knew the pun even without consulting one another, which was the funniest part. They fell back in tummy-aching laughter, already eager to find out what the next experiences of living together would bring. As friends, of course.


	2. Day 2: Sleep

“C’mon, you’re my guest. You sure you don’t wanna sleep in my bed?” Sans asked, watching Toriel arrange blankets on an air mattress in the living room. 

Toriel stopped, breaking into an amused smile at his phrasing. “I knew you were bonely, Sans, but I believe that is a bit inappropriate, is it not?”

His face contorted, becoming panicked with humiliation. “Uh, that’s not what I meant―I meant that I could sleep in the mattress while you sleep in my bed―not with you…”

Toriel began snickering, and Sans caught on. “Oh, haha, you got me,” he sarcastically murmured.

Toriel fluffed a pillow, proudly stating, “I told you that I would improve in my sarcasm. Well, I suppose sarcasm should be more obvious, so that means that it was not sarcasm if you believed me…” She eventually quieted once she realized that she was rambling.

Sans shrugged, beginning to help Toriel by fluffing a pillow himself. “I still bought it, and that’s an accomplishment all by itself.”

They laughed, and set up the mattress for the next few minutes. When they finished, Papyrus and Frisk peeked out of his room. “HELLO, YOU TWO. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT FRISK WILL BE SLEEPING IN MY ROOM, AND NOT IN A DISGUSTING WAY THAT SOME MAY THINK.”

Toriel seemed okay with it, as with how much Sans trusted Papyrus, and she trusted Sans a great deal. He went up to his room to read a bedtime story to them while Toriel brushed her teeth. After, she went to Papyrus’s bedroom to say goodnight to Frisk. She was glad to see her child and Papyrus together again; they seemed to be great friends and she could tell that Frisk missed him a lot while they were away. It hurt her to just think about how she had done that to her own child.

Toriel bent down to kiss Frisk’s forehead. “Good night, my child.” Frisk was sitting right next to Papyrus in his extraordinary red car bed, and they did not reply. It was rare that they were ever have something to say, unless it was important.

Papyrus grinned at Toriel, pleadingly. “CAN I GET ONE, TOO?”

She was amused, and smiled graciously. “Sure, Papyrus.”

Leaning down, she planted a quick smooch on the top of Papyrus’s skull. He pulled the covers up to his neck. “NYEH HEH, THANK YOU, TORIEL! I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE STAYING HERE. SANS WOULD NEVER KISS ME GOODNIGHT!”

“Correction, I can’t kiss you goodnight, unless you want me headbutting you,” Sans pointed out while putting Goodnight Moon back into its place in the bookshelf. 

“EHH… NO, I WOULD THINK NOT.”

Toriel stood up straight, turning behind her. “I should get to bed, also.”

Frisk waved and smiled genuinely at their mother while Papyrus shouted, “GOOD NIGHT!” Frisk turned toward Papyrus and whispered something to him. He gasped and blushed, and exclaimed toward Toriel, “YOU SHOULD GIVE SANS A GOOD NIGHT KISS, TOO! NYEH HEH HEH!”

Toriel rolled her eyes jokingly, yet her face was flushed, and Sans squinted at the snickering Frisk and Papyrus, but he was not sure why he was bothered by their comment. His expression turned to sarcastic humor. “Ha ha, guys. Good thing I’m hungry for one of them Hershey kisses right now.”

She looked down at Sans, now laughing. “Yes, well, if you would like your kiss, Sans, I will look in my purse to see if there are any in there!”

They both bursted into howls of partially nervous laughter, knowing that they were both joking, obviously. Frisk almost giggled while Papyrus groaned for a prolonged five seconds. “ARGH! YOU TWO ARE SUCH DORKS!”

Sans and Toriel finally left the room and they both walked down the stairs to the living room where she would be resting. Leaves rustled in the wind outside, drowning out the silence. There was shockingly no noise coming from Papyrus’s room, which left Sans and Toriel awkwardly quiet with no brother or child to tease or discuss about.

“So, uh,” Sans began, “you don’t need anything else, right?”

“Yes―I do not need anything else. You have been such a great host so far, Sans, and you always tell me how lazy you are! I honestly doubt that.”

Sans shrugged. “Only the best for someone who sincerely likes bad jokes.”

Toriel nodded in agreement. With no warning, she locked her arms around him in a tight yet warm embrace. Dumbfounded, Sans was unaware of what to do with his own arms, so he placed them around her waist, and his skull was unusually close to touching her breasts, making his face heat up. 

“Thank you so much for having us. I truly appreciate it, and if there is anything that you need, consider it done. Although I could never repay you enough,” Sans could feel her breathing quicken when his hands were on her back, and she continued, her voice cracking, “you are such a great friend. I really hope we can get to know each other better.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said honestly. His smile extended even further once realizing that being with Toriel was becoming a reality right in front of his eye sockets. 

Toriel separated from the embrace, and Sans followed, even though he would have preferred if it had lasted longer. He glanced up at her expression; the corners of her mouth rose as she was sharing a gaze with him. Toriel blinked, and awkwardly, they chuckled aimlessly to fill the void. 

“Good night, Sans,” she cooed, sitting in her slightly lumpy mattress.

“‘Night,” he replied back genially, heading up the stairs. 

Sans stepped into his bare bedroom and gently shut the door behind him. He leapt onto his bed, now with more sheets and blankets thanks to Papyrus, and breathed out a long, contented sigh. He could get used to these new arrangements. He looked around to see his accomplishment of the self-sustaining tornado made of trash and his collection of dirty socks scattered across the ground, just how he had left it. The clock read 9:27, but Sans refused to go to sleep at that moment. If he slept then, then what would he do if he did not have the thirst for sleep during the day?

So instead of sleeping, he pulled out his ketchup bottle from the inside of his jacket and began browsing the endless applications of his phone. Sans scrolled through Undernet and found a picture that was posted by CoolSkeleton95, Papyrus, and the photo consisted of him taking a selfie with sunglasses on. Sans was still amazed with how confident his brother was. They were so different. 

Of course, as the annoying sibling bell rang in his skull, he repeatedly posted comments reading “so cool”, for a few minutes. He must have commented that statement probably up to a hundred times. It would be bittersweet for Papyrus; being bombarded with spam, but also having a good amount of comments compared to other posts. Sans knew that his brother would appreciate the latter, but would most likely chastise him for the excessive amount of useless messages. Simple, dumb ways to brighten up his brother’s day was what Sans looked forward to on a daily basis.

After scrolling through his feed for about half an hour, though it seemed much shorter to him, Sans could faintly catch the sound of hushed sobs, as if they were trying so hard not to cry. The only person that these laments could have belonged to was Toriel, with the adult feminine tone of voice. Should I go check up on her? Sans pondered to himself. It crushed him to hear any sign of sadness radiating from her, and it was not even the first time; he could specifically remember the time when she had asked him to promise to watch over Frisk, and he did, even though he did an awful job at it. That time had seemed so long ago, and yet it had only been a month or two. 

Sans made his decision, and sat up. He reluctantly tip-toed to the door, creaked it open, and the cries instantly went silent. He almost regretted his choice so much that he would have subtly walked back into his room, but it was too late now. Peeking over the ledge of the second floor, he found that Toriel had gone back to sleep. Maybe it was not her that was crying…? But he still forced himself to go downstairs. 

Ugh, what the hell am I doing. Okay, I’ll just go get a drink of water, I guess, Sans thought, do skeletons even drink water? He quickly paced down the stairs and passed by Toriel without a sound, and almost felt her eyes watching him go by. Now in the kitchen, he searched through the fridge, hoping that they had any food or beverage to make an excuse about. Eventually, his phalanges landed on a yellow lemon-shaped plastic bottle of some type of liquid. When did they even purchase that? And what was it? It would have to do.

Sans walked by Toriel again, and she was lying quiet on her stomach this time. She did not sound upset. Halfway up the stairs, his curiosity ran amuck and he decided to take a swig of the beverage that he had discovered. It could not be that bad. The liquid fell behind his teeth, and, oh, it was bad. And sour… really sour. Lemon juice.

He spat out the putrid substance. His face contorted into a grimace, and he dropped the container. “Ah, shit!”

A sudden amused snort rang out from where Toriel was, and all was silent again. Sans felt proud being correct… about his own argument. 

He stepped toward the air mattress. “Tori? Tori.”

She sat up, rubbing her eyes either from just waking up or from crying. “Mhm?”

“Are you okay?” He asked hesitantly.

“Of… of course,” she murmured, her voice faulty.

“K, it’s just that I heard you crying not long ago, and I wanted to make sure you were alright ‘cause it didn’t sound like you were.”

“I’m… I’m okay,” Toriel tried to reassure, but he could see that there were tears surrounding her glassy, red eyes. Sans hardly realized that she said a conjunction, which was rare for her to say.

Sans’s concerned expression turned to uncertainty. He had consoled Papyrus for a long time, so why was Toriel any different? He kneeled in front of her. “Well, you’re clearly not okay. We should talk… somewhere else where the other two can’t eavesdrop. If that’s okay.” 

Toriel was vaguely aware of his teleportation ability, and barely nodded, looking down at her paws. Sans reached his own bony hand out to her, then nervously pulled it back. “Uh, you should probably put your hand on my shoulder,” he directed.

She extended her fluffy paw toward him, then reluctantly pulled it back. “Wait, where are we going?”

“Somewhere both you and me know pretty well,” Sans hinted knowingly.

Toriel was very sure that she knew of the place that he was talking about, and then set a paw on his shoulder with no skepticism. They disappeared into thin air, and the living room was left bare.

They popped up on the edge of the snowy banks of the Snowdin forest. Returning was bittersweet for Sans; he had been there countless times, and being back left a chilly feeling inside of him. They also happened to be in front of the Ruins door. The barrier that he could never get across, and was much more important to him than the actual barrier that divided the underground from the surface. Everything around them seemed like a wasteland. “Sorry… this was the only place I could think of.”

Toriel did not respond, and was in awe from her surroundings. It seemed like an eternity since she had last been there, which was only to walk across to get to the barrier at the end of Frisk’s journey. She pushed open the towering door, revealing dark emptiness if it were not for a stream of light shining down against a flowerbed. Toriel could have sworn that those flowers had not been there before, but her mind was somewhere else.

“Woah. If only I knew that opening the door was that easy,” Sans chattered, attempting to lighten the mood. They stepped inside and Toriel shut the door. “So what’s on your mind?”

Toriel seemed fidgety, shaking her foot. “May we explore for a bit first?”

“Uh sure.” 

They walked up to Toriel’s house, and it was almost totally empty, except for shelves and chairs. It seemed like it could have been haunted. The warm setting that it always was, was completely rid of any glow. “So this was your place, huh? It’s nice,” he complimented.

“Yes, I suppose it was,” she admitted darkly.

They ventured into her quite blue bedroom and the only furniture was a desk chair and an empty desk with an open journal on it. “I’m guessing this was your room.”

Toriel nodded, her expression unreadable. Sans went over to her desk and looked over the journal. She stated a bit more casually, “That was my old diary. I used to write jokes that I would end up telling you later on.”

Sans gave her a complacent smirk. “Oh, really? Let’s see… Why did the skeleton want a friend… because she was feeling bonely.” He snickered. “Ah, that’s a classic. I remember when you told me that one. God, it seems like so long ago.”

Toriel sighed. “Yes. I miss it terribly.” Her sad frown curved into a scowl.

Sans glanced up at her. “I miss it, too. Talking with you through that door was one of the best times of my life..”

Toriel was reminded of her life before the surface; the loneliness and fear. If Sans had not have been there, she would have probably gone insane. But now, there was a whole new assortment of problems, and this was supposed to be the happy ending. It was difficult to choose which situation she would have preferred to have at that moment, but one was for sure; she was through with conflict. During any sign of happiness or progression, there was something there to stop it. She was sick and tired of it. A hushed cry burst from her and she covered her face.

Sans drew close to Toriel. “Please, Tori, talk to me,” he pleaded.

Embarrassed, she turned away from him and walked over next to her desk and shut the diary. “I said that I was fine,” she chided. She sat in the desk chair, Chairiel, and, setting her elbow on the desk surface, she placed her hand on her face, sobbing quietly. Sans decided that it was not the best time to say something, and stood next to her, feeling guilty. 

“I don’t know what I want anymore. I…” she let out a whine and sniffled, breathing quickly. Sans became more concerned hearing a conjunction leaving her mouth. “I’m so selfish. I should have never moved to the damn city. I thought that I could get enough money so I could open up my school, but I guess wanting isn’t enough anymore.” Her face lowered to cry. “I should have never taken Frisk with me. I took my own child away from all of their friends… what kind of mother am I?”

Sans shook his skull. “It’s not your fault.”

“Please do not make up excuses for me,” she snarled, “It is because of my stupidity that I had to move out of my apartment and move in with you. I did not even have the decency to contact you while I was gone, and you are one of my best friends! You should be furious with me.”

Sans’s face distorted in liveliness. “I’m not―”

She shot Sans a glare; her eyes bloodshot from crying and her mouth curved into a bold glower, and she gripped his shoulders, making him almost want to back away. “I know that you are! So go ahead―fucking scream at me! I don’t care, I deserve all of it!”

Sans was silently in horror, and Toriel realized that. Her face softened as she dipped her head into his chest, her breaths quick. “Please forgive me. I am a mess, am I not?”

Sans enclosed his arms around Toriel, to her surprise. “Nope, you’re not. And what you just said wasn’t your fault,” he repeated.

A chortle escaped her mouth, tears in her voice. “I wish I could say that that makes me feel better.”

“Tori,” Sans declared seriously, and she looked up at him, “you had no idea that those things would happen. You just wanted to go after one of your dreams.”

Toriel glanced in the opposite direction. “It is more of a pipe dream now.”

“Ok, that’s not true.”

“Well, there is absolutely no way for me to make enough money for a building for a school and other teachers, let alone a house for myself and Frisk,” she explained truthfully.

His expression was rigid with determination. “Well, I’m not giving up on you. You always used to tell me how much you wanted to be a teacher and own your own school, and you always sounded so passionate telling me it! You should keep on trying, but these things take time. Believe me.” 

His advice was nice to hear, showing a curve of a smile on her face. “Yes, I realize that now. I should not have rushed myself.”

Sans shrugged. “Live and learn.”

Toriel beamed heartily at him with her twinkling eyes full of gratitude. She wrapped her arms around him to trap him in her never ending warmth. Sans sank into her. Her arms were shockingly strong and burly, yet soft. He didn’t know what was about this woman, but she made everything worth it. After all, every reset that he had suffered through was made brighter by her presence. On the topic of resets, Sans did not know if this timeline would last forever. That was what worried him. Everyone was having such a great time, and he could not stand to think about it ending.

They both wanted the embrace to last forever, but it would not be long before the hug would become awkward, so they pulled away from one another slowly. Toriel wiped at her eyes and there was a look in her eyes that Sans had never seen before, but it made his kneecaps buckle. She leaned close, and his pulse raced. Her lips touched his cheek. He could feel warmth spread through his limbs and his cheekbones flushed a bright blue color. His entire body went numb, but in the best way possible.

Toriel drew back and took a deep breath, trying to hide a huge smile. There seemed to be different air around them, from the moment that they had an affectionate hug. Sans realized it, and wondered if she could feel it, too. He liked the feeling, though. “That counts as your goodnight kiss,” she finally explained, her cheeks red.

He smirked. “Papyrus would be happy to hear that.”

She let out a light chuckle. “Indeed,” she blinked after a few moments of gazing, “Erm, we should head back. Who knows how late it is by now.”

Sans nodded and they both made their exit outside the blue room. As he was about to instruct Toriel to make contact with him so they could teleport away, he squinted, focusing on something in the distance. At the far end of the hallway, he spotted a tiny yellow flower, that was glaring at him. Once the plant had realized that Sans found it, the flower seemed to have disappeared. It can’t be, Sans thought.

He must have looked pretty distracted because Toriel tapped on him and asked, “Are you alright, Sans?”

He sighed and looked back up at her, grinning. “Yup,” he reached his hand out toward her reluctantly, “gimme a hand.”

Of course, Toriel gave him a round of applause, which he fully expected and adored. After this little pun, she set a paw on the outer side of Sans’s hand, and they vanished without a trace. The home was still grimly empty, but it seemed warmer now.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all. Hope you enjoyed this little thing, and just know that my updates on this will be very spread out, because I happened to be extremely busy this week -_- But I should be getting them out as soon as I can though.


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